


When will the sun rise again?

by Ratthew_rat_for_short



Category: A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Light Angst, Short One Shot, they both have personalities au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29494530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ratthew_rat_for_short/pseuds/Ratthew_rat_for_short
Summary: Darnay sits down to talk with Lucie before he runs off to France to get killed like the clown he is.
Relationships: Charles Darnay/Lucie Manette
Kudos: 3





	When will the sun rise again?

Lucie sat by the window and glanced out to the sunset on the horizon. She was alone as her darling daughter was being read to in the next room by the surprisingly patient Miss Pross; only the last rays of sunlight as golden as her hair accompanied her. The setting sun crept lower and lower as it ran from the sky and took its light with it. The strands of the sun were cut from the room and Lucie’s hair would have gone as dark as the night if it were not for the candle by her side. However, the wax is no replacement for genuine warmth, but it must do for now.

“Lucie! Darling where are you?” Darnay pants as he stumbles in the drawing-room. 

“I’m right here, and whatever could be the matter?” 

Dirty footprints lead to where Darnay sat next to Lucie on the sofa. The rest of him was just as improper. An unbuttoned coat, crooked collar, and his unsteady breathing were enough to worry Lucie, but the uncertainty of his eyes was the bit that scared her most. 

“Charles, tell me what has happened to you,” Lucie said as she clasped her hands around his arm.

“Where is she?” Darnay whispered harshly.

“Who, my dear?”

“Our Lucie. Where is she?” He looked to her now and Lucie knew that this was not for little ears to hear.

“She is with Miss Pross upstairs,” Lucie looked to the stairs and hoped both of them would stay put and not venture down. “They shouldn’t be able to hear us.”

“Good, good.”

“Charles,” Lucie moved her hand to his that held a paper so tightly that they were red, “please tell me what is on your mind.”

The silence that followed was louder than anything Lucie had heard in her life. She prayed her daughter would cry or that thunder would strike or that the mob would find another funeral to riot at, but instead, she was met with a shaky breath and the clearing of her husband’s throat. The deaf person no longer seemed a cursed individual. They can never hear the ones they love hurt them.

“Charles, you’re scaring me.”

“Lucie, I- I have to leave for a while,” he looked down at the letter.

“Why must you leave? Have I done something wrong? Are you unhappy with me? Do you not love-“ The words never left her mouth as Darnay had embraced her. Whilst the hug did nothing for her fears, it felt as if the sun’s rays were still in the room for a moment.

“Don’t you ever think that my love for you has gone? Darling, ever since the day we met, I have loved you. I would have been content with death because I had seen your sweet face for a day. I want nothing more in this world than for you to be happy so never doubt for even a moment that I love you with everything I am and I will always love you until the sun sets and it no longer appears the next day,” Darnay spoke with all the emotion of his wedding day and more. 

“Then why,” Lucie asked, still hurt, “must you leave?”

Darnay sighed and took his hands from Lucie and back to the paper. “This letter I received today is from an old friend of my uncle’s.”

Lucie said nothing as she had barely heard her husband talk of his family. All she knew was that he had a mother that he loved, but she died when he was young. It was one of the few things they could relate to about their past.

“My uncle’s friend is a tax collector in France and he has been captured by revolutionists. He wrote to me for help to reason with them or he will be killed,” Darnay folded the letter back up and looked away from everything, almost as if he was looking at the man, so many miles away.

“So what will you do?” Lucie asked and prayed that her husband wouldn’t answer with what she thought he would.

“Well, I must go help him,” Darnay said almost as if he had to.

“You must do nothing! Charles, those beasts will kill anyone that opposes them and you think you can tell me everything will be fine-“

“I’ll reason with them-“

“You can’t reason with madmen!”

“Actually I heard a woman is in charge,” Darnay remarked with a playful smile.

“Well, good for her, but don’t you dare change the subject here! I can’t believe you think I’ll be alright with this,” Lucie walked to and fro while fiddling with her golden hair. “Do you have a death wish? Was being charged for treason once not enough!”

With this Darnay got up and stood in front of her. The candles didn’t burn as brightly as before and the smallest raindrops hit the windows. Drip, drop, drip, drop. Darnay brushed the tears off Lucie’s face but let his own fall with the rain. Drip, drop, drip, drop.

“I'll come back to you,” he tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “I promise I’ll come back to you.”

The child upstairs heard nothing. Miss Pross heard nothing. Dr. Manette heard nothing. Lucie isn’t sure she heard anything either, but daydreams don’t have sounds and nightmares don’t speak during the day. 

Nevertheless, Lucie watched her husband ride off in the night towards the harbor. He looked back once as he rode off and called out that he loves her and he’ll be back someday when the sun rises. 

Lucie paced around the house and walked in the dried muddy footsteps made only a few hours before. Falling asleep while watching the last candle burn out, she dreamt that her husband had come home with no news of any sort and they went on a delightful evening walk and only heard the singing of the birds and the echo of their own footsteps. 

Lucie was awoken by her father before dawn. He asked what she was doing and where her husband was.

“He had to leave for his work,” she told him.

“That’s all?” Dr. Manette asked.

“The rest is a secret. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“That man and his secrets,” he shook his head, “it is enough to drive a person crazy.”

Lucie stayed on the sofa and looked out the window until dawn, but the rain never stopped and dawn never came. Only small drops on the window to match her own. Golden rays never danced around the room, not even her own.


End file.
